Aussie pair hope for Oscars miracle

Australian filmmakers Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey will live a lifelong dream today when they take their seats inside the Kodak Theatre for the 82nd annual Academy Awards.

The ceremony is set to begin at noon AEDT.

Doolan, 30, from Darwin and Bailey, 33, from Wollongong are nominated in the live action short category for their film Miracle Fish - about a young boy who is bullied and wishes the world would go away.

The twosome expect to leave the ceremony empty-handed.

"I don't think we're very high on the list of chances to win," Bailey said.

"We're just happy to be there. We just want to enjoy ourselves and whatever happens, happens."

Bookmakers think The Door, about a family dealing with the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and Kavi, a story about an Indian slave boy, are the top picks for the live action short film category.

If by some miracle Doolan and Bailey win, it will be up to Doolan to deliver the acceptance speech.

Under new rules introduced by Academy organisers to ensure a slick telecast, only one person can speak for a winning category.

"If a second tries, the producers of the show will cut them off," Bailey said.

"They told us to nominate who will talk beforehand.

"If by any any chance we do happen to fluke it, Luke will do the talking and I'll be standing there looking weirded out."

Two other Australians - costume designer Janet Patterson for Bright Star and producer Carolynne Cunningham for the best picture nominated District 9 - are in the running for Oscars, but both are considered long shots.

Most interest centres on the David vs Goliath battle between sci-fi epic Avatar and independent Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker.

Avatar and The Hurt Locker have nine nominations apiece, including best picture and director.

Avatar's James Cameron and The Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow were once married, adding an extra twist to the battle.

If Bigelow wins best director she will become the first female to win in that category at the Oscars.

In the other key categories, Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) is the short-priced favourite for best actor, Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) appears to have supporting actor Oscar in the bag and Mo'Nique (Precious) is at unbackable odds to win the supporting actress award.